The public is invited to learn about a scientific expedition to the Sahara Desert, a police department canine unit, the ecology of the Great Lakes and other topics in a new series of lectures starting Saturday, Jan. 27, in Park Forest.

The lectures will begin at 10 a.m. each Saturday in Freedom Hall, 410 Lakewood Blvd., in Park Forest. The series, called “Saturday Mornings at Freedom Hall,” is sponsored by the Village of Park Forest and is organized by Steven Simon, a Park Forest resident and scientist at the University of Chicago, and Park Forest Village Manager Tom Mick.